Delhi Capitals slowly but surely inched closer towards play-off qualification, annihilating Lucknow Super Giants by eight wickets in an IPL match in Lucknow on Tuesday.

The win was powered by a near-perfect performance from their pace unit, aided by inexplicable tactics from rival captain Rishabh Pant.

The trio of Mukesh Kumar (4/33), Mitchell Starc (1/25) and Dushmantha Chameera (1/25 in 3 overs) used slower deliveries smartly as LSG could only manage a below-par 159/6 after being 87/1 at the halfway mark.

In the back-10, LSG could manage only 72 runs recording their lowest team total of the tournament so far.

It made matters only worse that Pant, with his bandaged right palm, came in at No. 7 and was dismissed for a two ball duck, while Abdul Samad wasted deliveries like a millionaire up the order.

The match as a contest was over at half-time only.

Young opener Abhishek Porel (51 off 36) set the tone before KL Rahul (57 not out off 42) and Axar Patel (34 not out off 20) saw DC home with 13 balls to spare, sealing their sixth win in eight games.

With Sanjiv Goenka in the stands, it couldn’t have been sweeter for Rahul, whose third fifty of the season, was a nice little statement with willow, having endured the LSG owner’s public wrath during a game last season.

Pant’s bowling changes were unimaginative and persisted with Ravi Bishnoi, who has become a one-trick pony with only googly as his wicket-taking delivery isn’t helping his cause either.

A couple of more wins in the next six games will take DC to 16 points, considered magic figure for play-off qualifications.

The wicket didn’t have any demons but LSG, in terms of strategy, execution and intent, had their worst game of the season and skipper Pant, the record Rs 27-crore, recruit didn’t seem to be there.

There were misfields, sitters being dropped with LSG and its skipper cutting a sorry picture.

At the toss, he said his injury isn’t really serious but sending Samad and Ayush Badoni before himself left everyone perplexed whether he is playing at a fitness level below 100 percent.

Despite the palm injury, he also kept wickets.

The ball was coming nicely onto the bat during the first 10 overs and the bounce was even as Aiden Markram (52 off 33 balls) attacked well and Mitchell Marsh (45 off 36 balls) for once played second fiddle, allowing the South African to dominate.

Sensing the nature of the track, the DC bowlers changed their tactic effortlessly and started taking pace off the deliveries while altering the length.

Chameera got Markram with a fuller delivery, which he tried to slash but found the only fielder stationed at deep cover.

But it was Starc, who dealt a telling blow when he got the dangerous-looking Nicholas Pooran (9), who started with a couple of sweeps off Kuldeep Yadav.

Sensing that the West Indian would tonk the length balls bowled at anything above 135 clicks, Starc bowled a slow bouncer and forced him to rush into an ugly pull with both his feet off the ground. The result was an inside edge onto the stumps.

Samad (2 off 8 balls) and Marsh were out in quick succession as Mukesh Kumar varied the speed of his deliveries to get two wickets in a single over. He also got the prized wicket of Pant with the final ball of the LSG innings.

While Badoni played some cheeky strokes, LSG always looked like the team that would come second best in this encounter. Now DC have beaten LSG twice in this game.

Captain Shubman Gill’s elegant 90 off 55 balls on a challenging Eden Gardens pitch was complemented well by a disciplined bowling from Gujarat Titans as defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders succumbed to a 39-run loss in an IPL 2025 match in Kolkata on Monday.

Gill’s innings, adorned with 10 fours and three sixes, along with Sai Sudharsan’s 36-ball 52 — his fifth fifty in six matches which made him the first player this season to surpass 400 runs to reclaim the Orange Cap, laid the foundation for GT’s total of 198/3 after KKR opted to bowl on tacky track.

The total, which was well calculated and strategised by GT, proved more than enough as their bowlers led brilliantly by Rashid Khan and Prasidh Krishna’s identical figures of 2/25 restricted KKR to 159/8.

It was yet another low for the defending champions after their horror show of 95 all out while chasing 112 in the last match against Punjab Kings as their batting looked woefully out of depth and succumbed to their third defeat in four matches at home, and fifth overall from eight games.

For GT, this victory marked their sixth win in eight matches, consolidating their position at the top of the IPL standings with 12 points, two clear of Delhi Capitals.

KKR’s chase faltered early as Mohammed Siraj removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 1 in the opening over.

Sunil Narine’s brief 17-run cameo ended with his dismissal by Rashid, who found his mojo back after an indifferent start to the season.

The wily Afghan spinner, who had been under scrutiny for his recent performances, delivered a tight spell beautifully exploiting the conditions to return with 2/25 including the prized scalp of Andre Russell (21).

His control and variations on the slow Eden pitch signaled a return to form as he conceded just five runs in his two-over spell.

In-form seamer seamer Prasidh also showed his magic in the back-end as he dismissed Ramandeep Singh (1) and Moeen Ali (0) in successive balls as it was all but over for KKR at 119/7 in 16.3 overs.

KKR’s innings stagnated during the middle overs, with Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer struggling to accelerate against GT’s spinners in a phase where for 36 balls they failed to get a boundary.

Sai Kishore’s economical 1/19 in three overs further tightened the screws, leading to Rahane’s stumping for 50 off the bowling of Washington Sundar (1/36 in three overs) and Iyer’s departure for 14 from 19 balls.    

Requiring 108 runs from the final 45 balls, KKR’s hopes rested on Russell and Rinku Singh. However, the mounting required run rate proved insurmountable against GT’s disciplined attack.

Earlier, opting to bowl, KKR’s bowlers faced an early onslaught as Gill (90 off 55) and Sudharsan (53 off 38) forged a 114-run opening stand.

Sudharsan’s consistent form earned him the Orange Cap, becoming the first player this season to surpass 400 runs.

Despite the strong platform, GT’s innings slowed down in the final phase. They managed only 59 runs in the last five overs, with KKR bowlers executing their plans well at the death.

Jos Buttler, despite a promising start, was tied down and finished unbeaten on 41 off 23 balls without hitting a single six.

The Titans’ batting stuttered further as Rahul Tewatia, sent ahead of Sherfane Rutherford, was dismissed for a two-ball duck.

KKR’s spin trio — Moeen Ali, Varun Chakravarthy, and Sunil Narine — failed to make an impact as they conceded 96 runs from their combined 11 overs without picking a single wicket.

GT’s reluctance to take aerial risks — managing just five lofted shots in total — highlighted the effectiveness of KKR’s bowling in the second half of the innings.

Fielding, however, remains a concern for the home side. Vaibhav Arora dropped a straightforward chance running back from mid-off to dismiss Buttler when he was on 17.

Opting to bowl, KKR endured a wicketless powerplay as GT made a steady start, reaching 45 for no loss.

Harshit Rana’s fifth over, which went for 12 runs, was the only expensive one in that phase.

KKR tried four bowlers in the Powerplay, including spinners Moeen and Chakravarthy, but couldn’t find a breakthrough.

Gill and Sudharsan batted with maturity, rotating strike efficiently and picking boundaries without taking unnecessary risks.

They maintained a scoring rate close to nine an over and played just one aerial shot in the first 10 overs showing their controlled approach.

The pair brought up their fifties in quick succession. Gill reached his third fifty of the season off 34 balls, while Sudharsan notched his fifth half-century from six matches with a 33-ball effort.

The breakthrough came in the 13th over when Andre Russell dismissed Sudharsan (53) with a rising delivery that induced a top edge behind the stumps.

However, the wicket brought little relief for KKR as Buttler walked in and immediately went after the bowlers.

Fresh from a match-winning 97 not out in GT’s last outing, Buttler hit Russell for three consecutive boundaries, including a stylish cover drive after dancing down the track, displaying his rich form.

Mumbai: Rohit Sharma scored his first half-century of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, in his eighth innings, and Suryakumar Yadav blazed to a typically belligerent fifty as Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings by nine wickets in the season’s second El Clasico at the Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday, claiming their first victory over their nemesis in five attempts.

Chasing a challenging target of 177, Rohit Sharma hammered 76 off 45 balls while Suryakumar blazed to 68 off 30 balls as Mumbai Indians scampered to 177/1 in 15.4 overs to romp to a nine-wicket victory with 26 balls remaining.

It looked like a match made for Mumbai batters as three of them scored fifties — Shivam Dube (50) did it earlier for CSK, while a teenager, Ayush Mhatre, from the famed maidans struck a sensational 15-ball 32 on debut as the jam-packed Wankhede crowd was treated to some brilliant power-hitting.

Rohit has been facing questions over his repeated failures in IPL 2025. Though he struck three superb sixes in the previous match, his hopes were dashed soon. But on Sunday, the six-time IPL winner finally found his rhythm, playing some of his usual shots as he reached his half-century off 33 balls. He was a bit lucky on occasions, his shots eluded the fielders narrowly. But there was no stopping The Hitman on Sunday as he smacked four boundaries and six maximums to remind people that it was not time to write the epitaph to his illustrious career.

At the other end, Suryakumar Yadav once again proved why he is called the 360-degree batter as he struck boundaries to all corners of the ground, sweeping, slog-sweeping, pulling and ramping at will as he reached his half-century off 26 balls.

Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav shared a 114-run partnership for the second wicket off 54 balls, scoring at a blistering pace to reach 100 in 51 balls. They secured MI their fourth win of the season, which helped them move to sixth position in the standings with eight points. CSK remained at the bottom with four points from eight matches.

Asked to bat first, Dube and Jadeja struck crucial half-centuries to help Chennai Super Kings post 176/5 in 20 overs in the El Clasico clash against Mumbai Indians on Sunday.

Dube blasted 50 off 32 balls, studded with two fours and four sixes, while Jadeja finished the innings with an unbeaten 53 off 35 balls, laced with four boundaries and two maximums.

CSK scored 59 runs in five overs as Dube and Jadeja shared a 79-run partnership for the fourth wicket off 50 balls to give the Chennai innings some respectability.

Dube, who has been under fire for failing to perform at his usual standard as CSK slumped to five defeats in a row, struck a superb half-century to help the team set up a challenging total on Sunday. Dube and Jadeja reached their half-centuries off 30 and 34 balls respectively as they helped CSK set up a challenging total.

It was 17-year-old Mhatre who showed the CSK veterans how to score big on this Wankhede wicket, which was slow and also gripping the ball, with a sensational debut, hitting a 15-ball 32 after Rachin Ravindra was sent back for five by Ashwani Kumar.

From 16/1, CSK raced to 48/1 at the end of the power-play with Mhatre hitting Ashwani Kumar for a four and two sixes in his first over — shots that reminded fans of the big-hitting Dwayne Bravo. Mhatre pulled and flicked with aplomb as he provided the CSK innings the push it needed.

Though young bowler Ashwani Kumar, who conceded 24 runs in the 16th over, was taken to the cleaners by debutant Mhatre and Dube as he conceded 42/1 in two overs, Mitchell Santner bowled three brilliant overs for 14 runs and one wicket to peg them back. Jasprit Bumrah claimed 2-25 in his four overs, including the key wickets of Dube and skipper MS Dhoni (4) to finish as the most successful Mumbai bowler.

Brief scores:

Chennai Super Kings 176/5 in 20 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 53 not out, Shivam Dube 50, Ayush Mhatre 32; Jasprit Bumrah 2-25, Mitchell Santner 1-14) lost to Mumbai Indians 177/1 in 15.4 overs (Rohit Sharma 76 not out, Suryakumar Yadav 68 not out; Ravindra Jadeja 1-28) by nine wickets.